As is is the default rule of auction sales: the lot is sold in whatever condition it is in, with all its faults, and the auction house makes no warranty about it. The conditions of sale say so, the catalog says so, and the auctioneer often says so at the start of the sale. The principle is that bidders have had the opportunity to inspect the lot, at the preview or through the condition report and photographs, and bid with that knowledge.
What as is does and does not cover
As is covers condition. A chip the bidder did not notice, a repair the photographs did not show, a mechanism that stops working the week after the sale: these are the buyer’s risk. It does not usually cover authenticity. Most auction houses give a limited guarantee that the lot is what the catalog heading says it is, for a period such as three or five years, and will refund the hammer price and buyer’s premium if it is proven not to be. Nor does an as-is clause override consumer protection law where the buyer is a private individual, or excuse a description the auction house knew or should have known was wrong.
Why the clause is not a licence to be vague
An auction house that leans on as is to avoid describing faults loses twice. It loses the bids of the remote bidders who will not bid blind, which in a modern sale is most of them. And it loses the argument when a buyer complains, because a tribunal or a payment processor will ask what the auction house knew. The practical approach is the opposite: catalog as if there were no as-is clause, publish the condition report, photograph the faults, and let the clause do its proper job of covering what nobody could have found.
As is in the conditions of sale
The conditions of sale should state the as-is rule, the authenticity guarantee and its period, the inspection opportunity, and the procedure for a claim, and bidders should accept them when they register. An online bidding platform records that acceptance against the bidder’s account, with the version and date, which is the evidence the auction house needs if a dispute arises; Circuit stores the accepted terms with each registration on your own domain, as part of the registration flow described on the online auction software page.
